Dominican Communist Party

(DCP; Partido Comunista Dominicano), founded in 1944 as the Dominican Revolutionary Democratic Party. From 1946 to 1965 it was called the Dominican Popular Socialist Party, and since August 1965 it has been called the Dominican Communist Party (DCP).

From the moment of its creation, the DCP has functioned underground almost continuously. In 1947 the party was outlawed and subjected to harsh repressive measures, as a result of which it lost a number of prominent leaders, including F. Valdéz, one of its founders. In June 1955 a congress-like conference of the Dominican Popular Socialist Party was held. Party rules were adopted, as well as a resolution on writing a program, and a steering body was elected. In June 1959 the party took part in the armed uprising against the dictatorship of R. L. Trujillo. In June 1960 a conference of the Dominican Popular Socialist Party reviewed the situation in the country and defined the party’s tasks in strengthening the struggle against the dictatorial regime. The conference declared its decisive support of the Cuban Revolution of 1959.

After the downfall of the Trujillo dictatorship in May 1961, the Dominican Popular Socialist Party intensified its activity. In the document On the Political Situation, the Paths of Revolution, and the Party’s Tasks, which was adopted in September 1962, the Central Committee of the Dominican Popular Socialist Party emphasized that its strategic goal at that historical stage was a national-liberation, antimilitaristic, antifeudal revolution, which would put an end to the ownership of huge estates, give impetus to the independent development of the economy, free the country from the yoke of US monopolies, and establish genuine freedom for the people.

Under J. Bosch’s presidency (February-September 1963) the Dominican Popular Socialist Party had a semilegal status. It struggled actively for the country’s independent development, strengthened its influence among the masses, and took part in creating democratic trade unions, whose leadership included a number of communists.

After the coup d’etat of September 1963 and the accession to power of a military clique, the Dominican Popular Socialist Party was outlawed again. In March 1965 the party set forth the slogan of restoring constitutional order and establishing democratic organizations. This attracted support among patriotic forces. A movement developed in the country to restore the Constitution of 1963, which had been adopted by the Bosch government and abolished after the coup d’etat of September 1963. The constitutional movement became a mass revolutionary struggle. The Communists took an active part in the armed conflict against local reactionaries and US troops, who undertook an open, armed intervention in the Dominican Republic in April 1965. The August 1965 Plenum of the Central Committee of the Dominican Popular Socialist Party called on the country’s progressive forces to strengthen their unity and continue the struggle for the democratic rights of the people and the expulsion of foreign troops from the Dominican Republic. The plenum also adopted a resolution changing the party’s name.

The DCP has opposed the government of J. Balaguer, which has been in power since July 1966. It advocates replacing his government with one based on a program of democratic and antimilitaristic reforms. The DCP participated in the work of the Moscow Conferences of Representatives of Communist and Workers’ Parties in 1957 and 1960, and it signed the documents that were jointly worked out at these conferences. It also took part in the International Conference of Communist and Workers’ Parties in 1969. The DCP is built on the principle of democratic centralism. The party’s organ is the newspaper El Popular.